ONE button brought down this plane?? | Air Inter 148
Oct 20, 2026 · 50 min · 32 segments
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- EmmetHost
Oct 20, 2026 · 50 min · 32 segments
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Also on board were four cabin crew and two pilots.
This was the crew's third flight of the day.
In 1992, the Airbus A320 was truly a state-of-the-art aircraft, quite literally decades ahead of the competition.
Its fully digital flight instruments and fly-by-wire control system were innovations.
Its cockpit was designed in part by Porsche to be as ergonomic as possible, with every switch and lever within easy reach, and every display perfectly placed.
There were even three small spheres here, so that the pilots could put themselves in the ideal seating position to fly the aircraft.
However, the first iteration of the jet was not perfect, and there were still some issues which had to be ironed out.
One of those would play a key role in what happened on this night.
Sitting up front in the left-hand seat was the flight's captain, 42-year-old Christian Hecke.
He had been with Air Inter for over 12 years and had almost 9,000 hours of flying time.
This made him an experienced pilot.
However, most of his hours were on much older aircraft, like the Fokker F27, the Airbus A300, and the by then-anticated Caravelle.
Ecke had only 162 hours on the Airbus A320, which he'd built up over a period of four months.
As such, he was still getting to grips with the Airbus philosophy, and with its much more advanced autopilot.
The captain was described by those who knew him as a dedicated professional who rarely took risks.
His instructors noted that he was a reserved, calm and cautious man who was reluctant to undertake a task before he fully understood what was involved.
This cautious approach to flying may have been related to the fact that he was slow to learn, something which his instructors had also pointed out, and which may have been responsible for, three years previously, his suspension from flying after he landed on a closed runway at Toulouse Airport.
Nonetheless, he'd been reinstated after additional training, and was considered to be up to speed by this point.
Sitting to his right was First Officer Joel Cherubin, aged 37.
He was a rather recent hire, having joined the airline just two years previously.
Cherabin had built up over 3,500 hours of flying time, much of which were on more basic aircraft than the Airbus.
Also on board were four cabin crew and two pilots.
This was the crew's third flight of the day.
In 1992, the Airbus A320 was truly a state-of-the-art aircraft, quite literally decades ahead of the competition.
Its fully digital flight instruments and fly-by-wire control system were innovations.
Its cockpit was designed in part by Porsche to be as ergonomic as possible, with every switch and lever within easy reach, and every display perfectly placed.
There were even three small spheres here, so that the pilots could put themselves in the ideal seating position to fly the aircraft.
However, the first iteration of the jet was not perfect, and there were still some issues which had to be ironed out.
One of those would play a key role in what happened on this night.
Sitting up front in the left-hand seat was the flight's captain, 42-year-old Christian Hecke.
He had been with Air Inter for over 12 years and had almost 9,000 hours of flying time.
This made him an experienced pilot.
However, most of his hours were on much older aircraft, like the Fokker F27, the Airbus A300, and the by then-anticated Caravelle.
Ecke had only 162 hours on the Airbus A320, which he'd built up over a period of four months.
As such, he was still getting to grips with the Airbus philosophy, and with its much more advanced autopilot.
The captain was described by those who knew him as a dedicated professional who rarely took risks.
His instructors noted that he was a reserved, calm and cautious man who was reluctant to undertake a task before he fully understood what was involved.
This cautious approach to flying may have been related to the fact that he was slow to learn, something which his instructors had also pointed out, and which may have been responsible for, three years previously, his suspension from flying after he landed on a closed runway at Toulouse Airport.
Nonetheless, he'd been reinstated after additional training, and was considered to be up to speed by this point.
Sitting to his right was First Officer Joel Cherubin, aged 37.
He was a rather recent hire, having joined the airline just two years previously.
Cherabin had built up over 3,500 hours of flying time, much of which were on more basic aircraft than the Airbus.
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